‘Brushed under the carpet’

“Horrifying” was the first word that came to mind when Ayah Abbass sat down with C+D to talk about sexual harassment in pharmacy.

But “sadly, for every woman it’s the same,” she says dejectedly. “Even I have gone through sexual harassment. Basically, everyone experiences the same thing.”

Abbass, who is president of the National Association of Women Pharmacists (NAWP), says the term ‘sexual harassment’ refers to unwanted sexual behaviour. It describes incidents ranging from colleagues or patients saying “something inappropriate thing about your body” to physical assault.

After months of collecting data from 60% of the UK’s police forces, C+D’s investigation found that police reports of sexual harassment in pharmacy climbed 55% between 2020 and 2023.

Read more: Sex crimes in pharmacies soar 55%

According to Abbass, the data is “horrible” but sadly not surprising, given what she suggests some young women feel obliged to putup with it in order to progress their careers.

“You want to succeed... so things might get brushed under the carpet, because you might think ‘actually it's not that bad’ or ‘I'm the one who will get into trouble if I report it,’” she says.

“We’ve been told it’s great to whistleblow, but you’re scared it’s going to impact your job,”

Worse still, Abbass told C+D that in her experience, pharmacy has a culture of excusing sexual harassment.

“When I speak to other pharmacists about reporting certain things, everyone's kind of worried because they think ‘if it goes further, will it impact me when I renew my license’”.

“I think it's with us pharmacists… we’ve been told it's great to whistle blow, but at the same time, you're so scared it’s going to impact your job,” she told C+D.

According to Abbas, even though pharmacy staff might be the “victims, you still worry and worry about protecting your license because you work so hard for it”.

Abbass said this is often true with foundation year students. “That's when you're most vulnerable. Because, obviously, you want to succeed,” she said.

But all pharmacy staff might think “if I say something, I might lose my job, or just get sacked and they can replace me easily, which is really sad,” she added.

However, she suggests the data collated by C+D as part of a 6-month investigation into sexual harassment in pharmacy across the UK might be indicative of a shift in the reporting culture, whether that’s victims feeling more confident to come forward, police forces adopting a more proactive approach to tackling the issue, or organisations like the NAWP offering a place for people to talk.

“Sadly, the numbers are increasing, but at the same time it actually gives me a bit of comfort that people are reporting it,” she says.

“And if you feel like you don't feel safe to report it at work, you can reach out to other organisations like the PDA. Data like this is so important because it opens people's eyes to the fact that this is happening.

“At the end of the day, if you go through something really horrible, how are you supposed to carry on with your job as normal, feeling safe?”

It’s why she says it is “so important to report" incidents, even if you do it quietly. And Abbass understands the importance of being able to do that.

As someone who had experienced sexual harassment at work, creating a “space for people to speak up” was high on the priority list for Abbass when she became the president for NAWP in 2022.

“I do feel like I've heard more and more stories because of the position that I am in,” she says.

Abbass said she’s “grateful” she can act as a 'big sister’ for pharmacists in need of support “because it means people are comfortable to speak to me”.

She stresses that conversations with NAWP are always “going to be confidential”.

But outside of the supportive bubble that Abbass has built, she says “more needs to be done”.

NHS England told C+D that all NHS organisations can sign up to the sexual safety charter, which commits them to ensuring that there are appropriate reporting mechanisms in place.

But Abbass said that “tighter guidelines” are needed to ensure there’s a safety net for all pharmacy staff.

Such safeguards, she added, would be easier to enforce with greater funds – something the sector is famously lacking.

“The government should be funding support for the safety of healthcare professionals,” she says, adding she “doesn’t feel like the support is there for pharmacists from the government."

In the meantime, NAWPs safe haven has its arms open to “anyone who wants to chat,” says Abbass. “We’ll find a way to help you if you don't know where to go.”

If you’ve been affected by sexual harassment you can reach out to NAWP , Pharmacist Support or PASS in Northern Ireland for help.

Find free materials to raise awareness of a zero tolerance of abuse policies in pharmacies here.